North America's Great Lakes Ice at Historic Low | NOAA

North America's Great Lakes Ice at Historic Low | NOAA

For the second consecutive year, ice cover on the Great Lakes remains significantly below average for this time of year. Typically, peak ice cover at levels are around 53 percent. As of February 11, 2024, total ice coverage across all lakes measured a mere 2.7 percent. Lakes Erie and Ontario are basically at—or tied with—their respective historic lows for this time of year, making both essentially ice-free. This record low ice cover is largely attributed to unusually warm temperatures throughout the region in December 2023, paired with the generally short duration of Arctic air blasts.

The Great Lakes, also called the Great Lakes of North America, are a series of large interconnected freshwater lakes in the east-central interior of North America that connect to the Atlantic Ocean via the Saint Lawrence River. The five lakes are Superior, Michigan, Huron, Erie, and Ontario and are in general on or near the Canada–United States border.

Credits: National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), NASA, Cooperative Institute for Research in the Atmosphere (CIRA) 

Duration: 2 minutes, 20 seconds

Release Date: March 1, 2024

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